1. Field of the Present Disclosure
This disclosure relates generally to automated fire safety systems such as sprinkler systems which protect against fires that start within interior spaces of buildings; and more particularly to an automated protective system directed to the dangers posed by fires originating from the exterior of structures.
2. Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98
Many structures are lost each year from external fire causes. Structures that are damaged are often those in high risk environments where very large or very fast moving wild fires are common. Typically, losses occur in areas at the interface of undeveloped land and urban areas and where hilly terrain complicates fire protection measures and existing fire fighting capabilities may be inadequate. Therefore, it has been recognized that buildings in high risk areas need to have built-in self-protection akin to the widely employed automatic fire sprinkler systems. The direction of the prior art is to provide portable or add-on covering systems that are themselves fire resistant or fire-proof. These ideas include covering the exterior of a building so that heat and flames are not able to contact the structure. Several approaches to accomplish this are defined in the prior art as shown by the following patent disclosures.
Ballinger, U.S. Pat. No. 3,715,843 discloses a fire protection apparatus including fire retardant blankets and panels applied to and secured about a building by straps and ground inserted hold-down members requiring substantial time consuming manual installation effort.
Husson et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,877,525 discloses roller mounted screens, each fitted with a weight, to extend the screen by gravity with provision made for applying a fire retardant to the screen during extension. The system is for internal installation within a building and does not appear to readily lend itself to protection of a building exterior.
McQuirk, U.S. Pat. No. 4,858,395 discloses fire resistant sheets stored as rolls within roof mounted housings. The rolled sheet material is extracted by manually pulled ropes with certain sheets having a folded portion intended for, when unfolded, overlying the end wall of a house. The ground contacting edges of certain sheets may be provided with a bar to enhance ground engagement. The problem of manually extracting fire resistant sheets in the presence of an advancing brush fire, often accompanied by high winds, would seem to hinder use of the patented fire protection system.
Hitchcock, U.S. Pat. No. 5,423,150 discloses an automatically deployed fire resistant blanket by use of projectiles propelling blanket extremities. No provision is made for firmly securing the blanket about the building structure being protected in a snug manner nor would the system appear to be feasible in the presence of strong winds which often are present in fast moving wildfires.
Floyd, U.S. Pat. No. 5,608,992 discloses a fire isolation device for a free standing structure. This device includes a left tarp and right tarp fabricated from a fire resistant material. The left tarp and right tarp are of a size to completely enclose the free standing structure. Attached to the left tarp and right tarp is a support structure, which is capable of moving from an upward position where the left tarp and the right tarp completely enclose the free standing structure to a downward position where the left and right tarp expose the free standing structure. This device also includes a moving mechanism for moving the plurality of support members from the downward position to the upward position.
Jones et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,829,200 discloses fire retardant blankets normally stowed within housings in place on a building roof structure or below a roof eave. Cables extract the blankets for deployment over the roof. Fire retardant wall blankets stowed in housings adjacent to roof eaves are deployed by gravity.
Rogers et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,742,305 discloses a series of easily deployed; pre-fitted covering material segments which when joined together envelop an entire structure. This covering is secure enough to last in a deployed position indefinitely, and is retractable and reusable for many years. It is attached to a structure for immediately available deployment at any time.
In the above disclosures it is noted that several important problems are not well addressed and these problems will now be described. A building made of concrete with no openings for doors or windows will survive a high temperature fire for a significant period of time. However, practical residential and commercial buildings of less durable materials and which do have doors and windows cannot survive the temperatures and flame contact of wild fires for more than a few minutes. Also, fire brands find relatively easy access into the interior of structures through their ventilation system's screens, louvers and such.
It is clear that a solution to this problem must include preventing high temperatures, flames and fire brands from impinging on exterior surfaces of structures and the notion of removable structure covers is palpable. However, a major problem with covers is that fire resistant materials tend to break down rather quickly when exposed to high temperatures. Another problem is that covers tend to degrade the appearance of building structures. A third problem is that no practical automated deployment scheme has been devised. Automated deployment is necessary especially for structures that are in isolated area or which are not occupied, and certainly when a structure is in the path of a fast moving wildfire.
The present invention addresses these three problems providing: a means for storing covering materials on buildings without too adversely affecting their appearance, a means for automatically effectively deploying the coverings, and a means for preventing the coverings from failing in the face of impinging fires.